TAU on the Frontline of Relief in Nepal

Prof. Kobi Peleg, director of Tel Aviv University's executive and international master's programs in Emergency and Disaster Management at the School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine is doing what he does best – helping people, this time in earthquake-stricken Nepal.

Prof. Peleg is working as part of the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team, which coordinates the activity of the hundreds of overseas organizations for rescue, medical aid and other forms of emergency assistance – including the Israeli humanitarian mission. UNDAC’s responsibility is to assess urgent needs and help the Nepalese government efficiently respond to the disaster. Col. (res.) Gili Shenhar, also of Tel Aviv University and the Academic Coordinator of the International Program in Emergency and Disaster Management, is in Nepal as coordinator of the 260-strong IDF medical mission.

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Peleg is no stranger to humanitarian and medical missions, having held command positions at Israeli field hospitals in Haiti in 2010, in Rwanda in 1995 and at the 1988 Armenian earthquake. He also flew to the Philippines following the 2013 typhoon, where he coordinated the cooperative work of, and reciprocal relations between, the Israeli delegation and all the other various agencies and bodies such as the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the Philippines Ministry of Health and local medical authorities.

Tel Aviv University faculty member Prof. Kobi Peleg, PhD, MPH, is the Director of the National Center for Trauma & Emergency Medicine Research of the TAU-affiliated Gertner Institute for Health Policy & Epidemiology, Chaim Sheba Medical Center (Tel Hashomer). He is one of the co-founders of emergency and disaster management studies at TAU, and leads research and education activities in various fields of trauma. He served as head of the medical branch of Israel’s civil defense forces during the first Gulf War and head of Operation, Training and Organization of the IDF Medical Corps.